In many manufacturing processes for semiconductor and magnetic disk manufacturing, it is necessary to treat a work piece in a liquid environment and then dry the work piece. As is well known, particulates or contaminates that attach during the drying process may eventually cause defects in the work piece. Additionally, an inefficient drying process may result in extended processing times or even leave defects on a surface of the work piece, as well as promote oxidation. Thus, it is extremely important that when a substrate is dried, there are no impurities left on its surface. In order to promote efficient drying and reduce the likelihood of forming impurities, the embodiments described below expose the work pieces to evenly distributed heated gas after the work pieces are removed from the liquid environment.